Chapter III. - The Temptation and Fall.
In the midst of the garden, near the tree of life, stood
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree was especially designed of
God to be the pledge of their obedience, faith and love to him. Of this tree
the Lord commanded our first parents not to eat, neither to touch it, lest they
die. He told them that they
might freely eat of all the trees in the garden except one;
but if they ate of that tree they should surely die.
When Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden, they
had everything for their happiness which they could desire. But he chose, in
his all-wise arrangements, to test their loyalty before they could be rendered
eternally secure. They were to have his favor, and he was to converse with
them, and they with him. Yet he did not place evil out of their reach. Satan
was permitted to tempt them. If they endured the trial, they were to be in
perpetual favor with God and the heavenly angels.
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Satan stood in amazement at his new condition. His
happiness was gone. He looked upon the angels who, with him, were once so
happy, but who had been expelled from Heaven with him. Before their fall, not a
shade of discontent had marred their perfect bliss. Now all seemed changed.
Countenances
which had reflected the image of their Maker were gloomy
and despairing. Strife, discord, and bitter recrimination, were among them.
Previous to their rebellion these things had been unknown in Heaven. Satan now
beholds the terrible results of his rebellion. He shuddered, and feared to face
the future, and to contemplate the end of these things. The hour for joyful,
happy songs of praise to God and his dear Son had come. Satan had led the
heavenly choir. He had raised the first note, then all the angelic host united
with him, and glorious strains of music had resounded through Heaven in honor
of God and his dear Son. But now, instead of strains of sweetest music, discord
and angry words fall upon the ear of the great rebel leader. Where was he? Was
it not all a horrible dream? Was he shut out of Heaven? Were the gates of
Heaven never more to open and admit him? The hour of worship draws nigh, when
bright and holy angels bow before the Father. No more will he unite in heavenly
song. No more will he bow in reverence and
holy awe before the presence of the eternal God. Could he
be again as he was when he was pure, true and loyal, gladly would he yield up
the claims of his authority. But he was lost! Beyond redemption, for his
presumptuous rebellion! And this was not all; he had led others to rebellion
and to the same lost condition with himself—angels, who had
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never thought to question the will of Heaven, or refuse
obedience to the law of God till he had it into their minds, presenting before
them that they might enjoy a greater good, a higher and more glorious liberty.
This had been the sophistry whereby he had deceived them. A responsibility now
rests upon him from which he would fain be released. These spirits had become
turbulent with disappointed hopes. Instead of greater good, they were
experiencing the sad results of disobedience and disregard of law. Never more
would these unhappy beings be swayed by the mild rule of Jesus Christ. Never
more would their spirits be stirred by the deep, earnest love, peace, and joy,
which his presence had ever inspired in them, to
be returned to him in cheerful obedience and reverential
honor. Satan trembled as he viewed his work. He was alone in meditation upon
the past, the present, and his future plans. His mighty frame shook as with a
tempest. An angel from Heaven was passing. He called him, and entreated an
interview with
Christ. This was granted him. He then related to the Son of
God that he repented of his rebellion, and wished again the favor of God. He
was willing to take the place God had previously assigned him, and be under his
wise command. Christ wept at Satan’s woe, but told him, as the mind of God,
that he could never be received into Heaven. Heaven must not be placed in
jeopardy. All Heaven would be marred should he be received back; for sin and
rebellion originated with him. The seeds of rebellion were
still within him. He had, in his rebellion, no occasion for
his course, and he had not only hopelessly ruined himself, but the host of
angels also, who
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would then have been happy in Heaven had he remained
steadfast. The law of God could condemn, but could not pardon. He repented not
of his rebellion because he saw the goodness of God which he had abused. It was
not possible that his love for God had so increased since his fall that it
would lead to cheerful submission and happy obedience to his law which had been
despised. The wretchedness he realized in losing the sweet light of Heaven, and
the sense of guilt which forced itself upon him,
and the disappointment he experienced himself in not
finding his expectations realized, were the cause of his grief. To be commander
out of Heaven, was vastly different from being thus honored in Heaven. The loss
he had sustained of all the privileges of Heaven seemed too much to be borne.
He wished to regain
these. This great change of position had not increased his
love for God, nor for his wise and just law. When Satan became fully convinced
that there was no possibility of his being re-instated in the favor of God, he
manifested his malice with increased hatred and fiery vehemence. God knew that
such determined rebellion would not remain inactive. Satan would invent means to
annoy the heavenly angels,
and show contempt for his authority. As he could not gain
admission within the gates of Heaven, he would wait just at the entrance, to
taunt the angels and seek contention with them as they went in and out. He
would seek to destroy the happiness of Adam and Eve. He would endeavor to
incite them to rebellion, knowing that this would cause grief in Heaven. His
followers were seeking him; and he aroused
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himself and, assuming a look of defiance, informed them of
his plans to wrest from God the noble Adam and his companion Eve. If he could,
in any way, beguile them to disobedience, God would make some provision whereby
they might be pardoned, and then himself and all the fallen angels would be in
a fair way to share with them of God’s mercy. If this should fail, they could
unite with Adam and Eve; for when once they should transgress the law of God,
they would be subjects of God’s wrath, like themselves.
Their transgression would place them also, in a state of
rebellion; and they could unite with Adam and Eve, take possession of Eden, and
hold it as their home. And if they could gain access to the tree of life in the
midst of the garden, their strength would, they thought, be equal to that of
the holy angels, and even God himself could not expel them. Satan held a
consultation with his evil angels. They did not all readily unite to engage in
this hazardous and terrible work. He told them that he would not intrust any
one of them to accomplish this work; for he thought that he alone had wisdom
sufficient to carry forward so important an enterprise. He wished them to
consider the matter while he should leave them and seek
retirement, to mature his plans. He sought to impress upon
them that this was their last and only hope. If they failed here, all prospect
of regaining and controlling Heaven, or any part of God’s creation, was
hopeless. Satan went alone to mature plans that would most surely secure the
fall of Adam and Eve. He had fears that his purposes might be defeated. And
again, even if he should be successful in leading Adam and Eve to disobey the
commandment
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of God, and thus become transgressors of his law, and no
good come to himself, his own case would not be improved; his guilt would only
be increased. He shuddered at the thought of plunging the holy, happy
pair into the misery and remorse he was himself enduring.
He seemed in a state of indecision; at one time firm and determined, then
hesitating and wavering. His angels were seeking him, their leader, to acquaint
him with their decision. They will unite with Satan in his plans, and with him
bear the responsibility, and share the consequences. Satan cast off his
feelings of despair and weakness, and, as their leader, fortified himself to
brave out the matter, and do all in his power to defy the authority of God and
his Son. He acquainted them with his plans. If he should come boldly upon Adam
and Eve and make complaints of God’s own Son, they would not listen to him for
a moment, but would be prepared for such an attack. Should he seek to
intimidate them because of his power, so recently an angel in high authority,
he could
accomplish nothing. He decided that cunning and deceit
would do what might, or force, could not.
God assembled the angelic host to take measures to avert
the threatened evil. It was decided in Heaven’s council for angels to visit
Eden and warn Adam that he was in danger from the foe. Two angels sped on their
way to visit our first parents. The holy pair received them with joyful
innocence, expressing their grateful thanks to their Creator for thus
surrounding them with such a profusion of his bounty. Everything lovely and
attractive was theirs to enjoy, and everything
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seemed wisely adapted to their wants; and that which they
prized above all other blessings, was the society of the Son of God and the
heavenly angels, for they had much to relate to them at every
visit, of their new discoveries of the beauties of nature
in their lovely Eden home, and they had many questions to ask relative to many
things which they could but indistinctly comprehend. The angels graciously and
lovingly gave them the information they desired. They also gave them the sad
history of Satan’s rebellion and fall. They then distinctly informed them that
the tree of knowledge was placed in the garden to be a pledge of their
obedience and love to God; that the high and happy estate of the
holy angels was to be retained upon condition of obedience;
that they were similarly situated; that they could obey the law of God and be
inexpressibly happy, or disobey, and lose their high estate,
and be plunged into hopeless despair. They told Adam and
Eve that God would not compel them to
obey—that he had not removed from them power to go contrary
to his will; that they were moral agents, free to obey or disobey. There was
but one prohibition that God had seen fit to lay upon them as yet. If they
should transgress the will of God, they would surely die. They told Adam and
Eve that the most exalted angel, next in order to Christ, refused obedience to
the law of God which he had ordained to govern heavenly beings; that this
rebellion had caused war in Heaven which resulted in the rebellious
beingexpelled therefrom, and every angel was driven out of Heaven who united
with him in questioning the authority of the great Jehovah; and that
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this fallen foe was now an enemy to all that concerned the
interest of God and his dear Son.
They told them that Satan purposed to do them harm, and it
was necessary for them to be guarded, for they might come in contact with the
fallen foe; but he could not harm them while they yielded obedience to God’s
command; for, if necessary, every angel from Heaven would come to their help
rather than that he should in any way do them harm. But if they disobeyed the
command of God, then Satan would have power to ever annoy, perplex, and
trouble, them. If they remained steadfast against the first insinuations of
Satan, they were as secure as the heavenly angels. But if they yielded to the
tempter, He who spared not the exalted angels, would not spare them. They must
suffer the penalty of their transgression; for the law of God was as sacred as
himself, and he required implicit obedience from all in Heaven and on earth.
The angels cautioned Eve not to separate from her husband
in her employment; for she might be brought in contact with this fallen foe. If
separated from each other, they would be in greater danger than if both were
together. The angels charged them to closely follow the instructions God had
given them in reference to the tree of knowledge; for in perfect obedience they
were safe, and this fallen foe could then have no power to deceive them. God
would not permit Satan to follow the holy pair with continual
temptations. He could have access to them only at the tree
of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve assured the angels that they should
never transgress the express command of God; for it was their highest pleasure
to do his
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will. The angels united with Adam and Eve in holy strains
of harmonious music; and as their songs pealed forth from blissful Eden, Satan
heard the sound of their strains of joyful adoration to the Father and Son. And
as Satan heard it, his envy, hatred, and malignity, increased, and he expressed
his anxiety to his followers to incite them (Adam and Eve) to disobedience, and
at once bring down the wrath of God upon them, and change their songs of praise
to hatred, and curses to their Maker. Satan assumes the form of a serpent, and
enters Eden. The serpent was a beautiful creature, with wings; and while flying
through the air, his appearance was bright, resembling burnished gold. He did
not go upon the ground, but went from place to place through the air, and ate
fruit like man. Satan entered into the serpent, and took his position in the
tree of knowledge, and commenced leisurely eating of the fruit. Eve,
unconsciously at first, separated from her husband in her employment. When she
became aware of the fact, she felt that there might be danger; but again she
thought herself secure, even if she did not remain close by the side of her
husband. She had wisdom and strength to know if evil came, and to meet it. This
the angels had cautioned her not to do. Eve found herself gazing with mingled
curiosity and admiration upon the fruit of
the forbidden tree. She saw it was very lovely, and was
reasoning with herself why God had so decidedly prohibited their eating or touching
it. Now was Satan’s opportunity. He addressed her as though he was able to
divine her thoughts: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?” Thus,
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with soft and pleasant words, and with musical voice, he addressed
the wondering Eve. She was startled to hear a serpent speak. He extolled her
beauty and exceeding loveliness, which was not displeasing to Eve. But she was
amazed, for she knew that to the serpent God had not given the power of speech.
Eve’s curiosity was aroused. Instead of fleeing from the
spot, she listened to hear a serpent talk. It did not occur to her mind that it
might be that fallen foe, using the serpent as a medium. It was Satan that
spoke, not the serpent. Eve was beguiled, flattered, infatuated. Had she met a
commanding personage, possessing a form like the angels, and resembling them,
she would have been upon her guard. But that strange voice should have driven
her to her husband’s side to inquire of him why another should thus
freely address her. But she enters into a controversy with
the serpent. She answers his question, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
The serpent answers, “Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil.” Satan would convey the idea that by eating of the forbidden tree,
they would receive a new and more noble kind of knowledge
than they had hitherto attained. This has been his special
work with great success ever since his fall, to lead men to pry into the secrets
of the Almighty, and not to be satisfied with what God has revealed, and not
careful to obey that which he has commanded.
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He would lead them to disobey God’s commands, and then make
them believe that they are entering a wonderful field of knowledge. This is
purely supposition, and a miserable deception. They fail to understand what God
has revealed, and disregard his explicit commandments, and aspire after wisdom,
independent of God, and seek to understand that which he
has been pleased to withhold from mortals. They are elated with their ideas of
progression, and charmed with their own vain philosophy; but grope in midnight
darkness relative to true knowledge. They are ever learning, and never able to
come to
the knowledge of the truth. It was not the will of God that
this sinless pair should have any knowledge of evil. He had freely given them
the good, but withheld the evil. Eve thought the words of the serpent wise, and
she received the broad assertion, “Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know
that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be
as gods knowing good and evil”—making
God a liar. Satan boldly insinuates that God had deceived
them to keep them from being exalted in knowledge equal with himself. God said,
If ye eat “ye shall surely die.” The serpent said, If ye
eat “ye shall not surely die.” The tempter assured Eve that
as soon as she ate of the fruit she
would receive a new and superior knowledge that would make
her equal with God. He called her attention to himself. He ate freely of the
tree and found it not only perfectly harmless, but delicious and exhilarating; and
told her that it was because of its wonderful properties to impart wisdom and
power that God had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it; for
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he knew its wonderful qualities. He stated that by eating
of the fruit of the tree forbidden them was the reason he had attained the
power of speech. He intimated that God would not carry out his word. It was
merely a threat to intimidate them and keep them from great good. He further
told them that they could not die. Had they not eaten of the tree of life which
perpetuates immortality? He said that God was deceiving them to keep them from
a higher state of felicity and more exalted happiness. The tempter plucked the
fruit and passed it to Eve. She took it in her hand. Now, said the tempter, you
were prohibited from even touching it lest you die. He told her that she would
realize no more sense of evil and death in eating than in touching or handling
the fruit. Eve was emboldened because she felt not the immediate signs of God’s
displeasure. She thought the words of the tempter all wise and correct. She
ate, and was delighted with the fruit. It seemed delicious to her taste, and
she imagined that she realized in herself the wonderful effects of the fruit. She
then plucked for herself of the fruit and ate, and imagined she felt the
quickening power of a new and elevated existence as the result of the
exhilarating influence of the forbidden fruit. She was in a strange and
unnatural excitement as she sought her husband, with her hands filled with the
forbidden fruit. She related to him the wise discourse of the serpent, and
wished to
conduct him at once to the tree of knowledge. She told him
she had eaten of the fruit, and instead of her feeling any sense of death, she
realized a pleasing, exhilarating influence. As soon as Eve had
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disobeyed, she became a powerful medium through which to occasion
the fall of her husband. I saw a sadness come over the countenance of Adam. He appeared
afraid and astonished. A struggle appeared to be going on in his mind. He told
Eve he was quite certain that this was the foe that they had been warned
against; and if so, that she must die. She assured him she felt no ill effects,
but rather a very pleasant influence, and entreated him to eat. Adam quite well
understood that his companion had
transgressed the only prohibition laid upon them as a test
of their fidelity and love. Eve reasoned that the serpent said they should not
surely die, and his words must be true, for she felt no signs of God’s
displeasure, but a pleasant influence, as she imagined the angels felt. Adam
regretted that Eve had left his side; but now the deed was done. He must be
separated from her whose society he had loved so well. How could he have it
thus? His love for Eve was strong. And in utter discouragement he resolved to
share her fate. He reasoned that Eve was a part of himself; and if she must die,
he would die with her; for he could not bear the thought of separation from
her. He lacked faith in his merciful and benevolent Creator. He did not think
that God, who had formed him out of the dust of the ground into a living,
beautiful form, and had created Eve to be his companion, could supply her
place. After all, might not the words of this wise serpent be correct? Eve was
before him, just as lovely and beautiful, and apparently
as innocent, as before this act of disobedience. She
expressed greater, higher love for him than before her disobedience, as the effects
of the fruit she
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had eaten. He saw in her no signs of death. She had told
him of the happy influence of the fruit, of her ardent love for him, and he
decided to brave the consequences. He seized the fruit and quickly ate it, and,
like Eve, felt not immediately its ill effects. Eve had thought herself capable
of deciding between right
and wrong. The flattering hope of entering a higher state
of knowledge had led her to think that the serpent was her especial friend,
possessing a great interest in her welfare. Had she sought her husband, and
they had related to their Maker the words of theserpent, they would have been
delivered at once from his artful temptation. God instructed our first parents
in regard to the tree of knowledge, and they were fully informed relative to
the fall of Satan, and the danger of listening to his suggestions. He did
not deprive them of the power of eating the forbidden
fruit. He left them as free moral agents to believe his word, obey his commandments
and live, or believe the tempter, disobey and perish. They both ate, and the
great wisdom they obtained was the knowledge of sin, and a sense of guilt. The
covering of light
about them soon disappeared, and under a sense of guilt,
and loss of their divine covering, a shivering seized them, and they tried to
cover their exposed forms. The Lord would not have them investigate the fruit
of the tree of knowledge, for then they would be exposed to Satan masked. He
knew that they would be perfectly safe if they touched not the fruit. Our first
parents chose to believe the words, as they thought, of a serpent; yet he had
given them no tokens of his love. He had done nothing for
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their happiness and benefit; while God had given them
everything that was good for food, and pleasant to the sight. Everywhere the eye
might rest was abundance and beauty; yet Eve was deceived by the serpent, to
think that there was something withheld which would make them wise, even as
God. Instead of believing and confiding in God, she basely distrusted his
goodness, and cherished the words of Satan.
After Adam’s transgression he at first imagined that he
felt the rising to a new and higher existence. But soon the thought of his
transgression terrified him. The air that had been of a and even temperature,
seemed to chill them. The guilty pair had a sense of sin. They felt a dread of
the future, a sense of want, a nakedness of soul. The sweet love, and peace,
and happy, contented bliss, seemed removed from them, and in its place a want
of something came over them that they never experienced before. They then for
the first turned their attention to the external. They had not been clothed,
but were draped in light
as were the heavenly angels. This light which had
enshrouded them departed. To relieve the sense of lack and nakedness which they
realized, their attention was directed to seek a covering for their forms; for
how could they meet the eye of God and angels unclothed? Their crime is now
before them in its true light. Their transgression of God’s express command
assumes a clearer character. Adam censured Eve’s folly in leaving his side, and
being deceived by the serpent. They both flattered themselves that God, who had
given them everything to make them happy, might yet excuse their disobedience,
because of his great love to them, and that their
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punishment would not be so dreadful, after all. Satan
exulted in his success. He had now tempted the woman to distrust God, to question
his wisdom, and to seek to penetrate his all-wise plans. And through her he had
also caused the overthrow of Adam, who, in consequence of his love for Eve, disobeyed
the command of God, and fell with her. The news of man’s fall spread through
Heaven—every harp
was hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads
in sorrow. All Heaven was in agitation. The angels were grieved at the base
ingratitude of man, in return for the rich bounties God had provided. A council
was held to decide what must be done with the guilty pair. The angels feared
that they would forth the hand, and eat of the tree of life, and thus
perpetuate a life of sin. The Lord visited Adam and Eve, and made known to them
the consequence of their disobedience. As they hear God’s majestic approach,
they seek to hide themselves from his inspection, whom they delighted, while in
their innocence and holiness, to meet. “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and
said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and
I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee
that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat?” This question was asked by the Lord, not because he needed
information, but for the conviction of the guilty pair. How didst thou become
ashamed and fearful? Adam acknowledged his transgression, not because he was
penitent for his great disobedience, but to cast reflection upon God.
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“The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, and I did eat.” The woman was then addressed: “What is this that thou
hast done?” Eve answered, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” The Lord
then addressed the serpent: “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above
all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” As the serpent had been
exalted above the beasts of the field, he should be degraded beneath them all,
and be detested by man, inasmuch as he was the medium through which Satan
acted. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground.” God cursed the
ground because of their sin in eating of the tree of knowledge, and declared,
“In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” He had apportioned
them the good, but withheld the evil. Now God declares that they shall eat of
it, that is, they should be acquainted with evil all the days of their life.
The race from that time forward was to be afflicted by
Satan’s temptations. A life of perpetual toil and anxiety was appointed unto
Adam, instead of the happy, cheerful labor he had hitherto enjoyed. They should
be subject to disappointment, grief and pain, and finally come to
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dissolution. They were made of the dust of the earth, and
unto dust should they return. They were informed that they would have to lose
their Eden home. They had yielded to Satan’s deception and believed the word of
Satan, that God would lie. By their transgression they had opened a way for
Satan to gain access to them more readily, and it was not safe for them to
remain in the garden of Eden,
lest in their state of sin, they gain access to the tree of
life, and perpetuate a life of sin. They entreated to be permitted to remain, although
they acknowledged that they had forfeited all right to blissful Eden. They
promised that they would in the future yield to God implicit obedience. They
were informed that in their
fall from innocence to guilt, they gained no strength but
great weakness. They had not preserved their integrity while they were in a
state of holy, happy innocence, and they would have far less strength to remain
true and loyal in a state of conscious guilt. They were filled with keenest
anguish and remorse. They now realized that the penalty of sin was death. Angels
were commissioned to immediately guard the way of the tree of life. It was
Satan’s studied plan that Adam and Eve should disobey God, receive his frown,
and then partake of the tree of life, that they might perpetuate a life of sin.
But holy angels were sent to debar their way to the tree of life. Around these
angels flashed beams of light on every side, which had the appearance of
glittering swords.
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REFERENCE
The
Spirit of Prophecy
Volume
One
Ellen
G. White
1870,page
27-44
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